Divine Ruin

Praise for Divine Ruin:

“Crackling. . . . Holiday remains a messy yet lovable heroine whose rough edges belie her unflagging moral compass, and Douaihy traps her in a series of pulse-pounding scenarios.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“New Orlean’s most unlikely nun goes undercover to stop the drug at its source, taking readers on a fast-paced adventure featuring a wildly colorful assortment of lowlifes while spotlighting the heartbreaking human damage they leave in their wake.” —Booklist

“Douaihy’s poetic prose and incredible voice shine as we rejoin our indomitable sleuth, Sister Holiday, in her hunt for the truth, and find it is every bit as grisly and profane as it is beautiful and sacred. Divine Ruin is fearlessly inspired.” —Gillian Flynn

“Margot Douaihy weaves light into noir, poetry into breakneck plotting, and grace into grit. In Divine Ruin, Sister Holiday goes farther than she ever has, descending into a hellish underworld of drug trafficking, addiction, and her own dark past in a journey that is both riveting and sacred. I’d follow her anywhere.” —Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines

“Our prayers have been answered because Sister Holiday is back in all her clever, queer, and tattooed glory. Divine Ruin is an expertly crafted mystery hitting so close to home and heart for Sister Holiday that the story will stay with you long after the powerful final pages.” —Vanessa Lillie, bestselling author of Blood Sisters

“Margot Douaihy goes deeper, darker, harder with Divine Ruin, where Sister Holiday dives into the seamy world of fentanyl traffickers and finds herself walking the razor’s edge of addiction. Douaihy proves noir can have a heart—then promptly rips it out. Intimate and lyrical, this devastated me in the very best way.” —K.T. Nguyen, Agatha Award-winning author of You Know What You Did

“Divine Ruin is not just a terrific tale of the Big Sleazy but a powerful portrait of a soul in torment.”—The Times (UK)

“The mystery is sharp and the solution surprising, but the biggest draw here is Holiday’s anguished attempts to balance the demands of the flesh against the call of the spirit.” —Kirkus

“With Divine Ruin Douaihy deftly lures readers in by revealing a stunning new facet of Sister Holiday. What’s revealed in the process is a novel that challenges the vows we make to ourselves, others, and the divine. Sparkling with depth and darkness, this installment proves that there is so much more to learn about Sister Holiday. I, for one, cannot wait to see what Douaihy has in store. Divine Ruin is a tour de force.” —Erin E. Adams, author of Jackal and One of You

Selected Praise for the Sister Holiday series:

New York Times Best Crime Novels of the Year (Scorched Grace & Blessed Water) · Winner of the Pinckley Prize for Crime Fiction (Scorched Grace) · Winner of Publishing Triangle’s Joseph Hansen Award for LGBTQ+ Crime Writing (Blessed Water)

“I know, the series is only three books in… but I’m already batting hard for Sister Holiday as one of the most startlingly original protagonists of the century.” —Molly Odintz, CrimeReads

“You might think a mystery about an inked-up lesbian Punk musician-turned-nun is a little far-fetched; but New Orleans, the setting of the Sister Holiday series, is the city of far-fetched phenomenon, both sacred and profane…. Douaihy’s writing style—pure hard-boiled Patti Smith—contains all the contradictions that torment Sister Holiday in her bumpy journey of faith.” —Fresh Air, NPR

“Sister Holiday, the protagonist of Margot Douaihy’s showstopper of a series debut Scorched Grace isn’t what you’d imagine a nun to be like, even in laissez-faire New Orleans.” —Sarah Weinman, New York Times

“A whodunnit with an unforgettable mystery solver . . . Sister Holiday isn’t your average nun: She’s a headstrong, thoroughly-tattooed chain smoker who sets off on a one-woman investigation through New Orleans to find out who is behind an arson attack at her school.” —Jillian Ortiz, TODAY

“The prose really sings . . . Such lyricism in the service of setting the scene betrays the author’s background as an established poet.” —Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times